Cultural Sociology and the Politics of Canonization: An Anglo-Canadian Perspective

Abstract

This article offers a regional spotlight introduction to Anglo-Canadian cultural sociology. The question of what makes Canada unique has long preoccupied Canadian writers, artists, and policy makers, and is central to scholarly debates about Canadian sociology’s position relative to British, American, and other national sociologies, as well as the need for decolonization and diversification of the disciplinary canon. As a subfield, Anglo-Canadian cultural sociology receives little attention within these wider debates despite its emphasis on issues of cultural difference, identity, and evaluation. We provide an analysis of the dynamics of the field. Using course syllabi and survey data from instructors (N = 28), we examine whether there is a unique canon in Anglo-Canadian cultural sociology, and how cultural sociology is taught across Canada. Network analysis of texts assigned on syllabi and survey responses from cultural sociology instructors reveal, first, a thematic canon in Canadian cultural sociology, with a plurality of authors used to teach four main themes: identity and representation, cultural production, cultural consumption, and conceptualizing and measuring culture. Second, we find the positionality of Anglo-Canadian cultural sociology (with respect to both other national sociologies and neighboring subfields/disciplines) is uncertain and widely variant. Finally, survey responses concerning identity and representation suggest a reflexivity about the politics of canonization, and a gendered interest in decolonizing curricula. We conclude by arguing that a thematic canon in cultural sociology facilitates the maintenance of fuzzy boundaries with other subfields, national and Indigenous intellectual traditions, and a critical feminist lens.